ARTICLE
Fall
2009
Solo
Musical Theatre
Section 1. Entries.
Clause 1. Each school will be entitled to
enter three Solo Musical Theatre in the District Contest.
Clause
2. Solo Musical Theatre will be
counted as part of the six entries in Acting.
Section 2. Selections/Materials.
Clause 1. A member school
will not use material in this area which is identical to that used in other
individual events.
Clause
2. Each school will be responsible
for securing performance rights.
ROYALTIES. It is the duty
and responsibility of the director to secure appropriate production rights for
all Solo Musical Theatre selections presented in contest productions, and is
required whether or not admission is assessed. Performance permission for productions (as in the case of a
school musical) is not license for using copyrighted musical material in
portions or totally in contest presentation.
Section 3. Length. The length of the performance will be limited to
ONE song no longer than 5 minutes.
Section 4. Preparation and Presentation.
Clause 1. The Solo Musical Theatre performance
will be given in a normal classroom. One chair will be provided.
Clause
2. Students must not costume. They
may, however, adjust normal
wearing apparel to enhance characterization (i.e. straightening tie, pushing
glasses down on nose). Students may
not use wearing apparel as a property (i.e. removing it and placing it
somewhere in the room). Properties
(other than the chair) will not be used.
Clause
3. The contestants will utilize the skills of acting and singing, and/or
dancing. All lyrics must be
memorized.
Clause
4. The actor must introduce the selection with only the title of the musical,
the author, and the song title.
This will be included as part of the performance time.
Clause
5. The actor must remain in view of the judge(s) at all times.
Clause
6. Prompting will constitute a Division IV rating.
Clause
7. The performers must accompany their performance with recorded music without
words. A tape recorder or CD
player must be used and provided by the contestants. The machine may be operated by another
student or coach, not part of the performance and not to be wearing
identifiable school apparel.
Students may sing short sections a cappella. Entire performance may be sung a cappella only if the
original score was meant to be performed a cappella.
Clause
8. A brief sound check may be arranged with the door chair just prior to the
performance.
Section 5. Timing. The Local Manager will appoint a timekeeper who
will use a timing device and indicate with timing cards the time as it
elapses. At the end of the first
minute of the presentation, a four will be held up, at the end of the second
minute, a three will held up and so on down the scale of numbers- 2, 1,
½, and 0. At the end of
five minutes, the timer will rise and say STOP. The contestant must stop
immediately on penalty of disqualification. (Article III, Section 6, By-Laws.)
Section 6. Judging. Judging will be based on effective acting and
singing, and/or dancing techniques and on the ability of the performer to
convey material written for/adapted for presentation as a musical.
Section 7. Winners.
Clause
1. A performer with a Division I rating may compete in the State Contest. The same Musical Theatre selection must
be used.
Clause
2. A performer winning Division I
rating in the State Contest the preceding year may not use the same selection
the next year.
Fall 2009
CASEBOOK
1. Q. May we bring our own chair?
A. NO
2. Q. If normal wearing apparel suggests a character, could it invite disqualification?
A. Yes.
3. Q. May the performer use any part of the performance room except the floor?
A. Students should not use parts of the performance room that could be considered props, such as doors, desks, windows, walls, etc. Accidental touch does not mean USED.
4. Q. May a performance be done without musical accompaniment?
A. No, you must have musical accompaniment without words.
5. Q. May a performance have live musical accompaniment?
A. No, all accompaniment must be recorded/taped. Accompaniment may be just one instrument or a whole orchestra. You must have accompaniment, this event cannot be done without accompaniment.
6. Q. Must a cutting be from an established musical?
A. Yes, Material must be drawn from published scripts written for theatre. Works
from other forms such as poetry, fiction, film, or standard popular song lyrics
are not permitted. The selection
may contain dialogue if it is a part of the original song. Only ONE song may be presented.
7. Q. Must the recorded music begin with the performance?
A. No, the music may start or stop at any time during the performance.
8. Q. Must you have dancing?
A. No, dancing would only be necessary if the cutting would require dancing to be effective.
9. Q. May we add dialogue to the Solo Musical Theatre selection?
A. No
10. Q. Can the Introduction contain an explanation of the show?
A. No, only the title of the musical, author, and song title may be given, nothing else.
11. Q. Does normal wearing apparel include shoes?
A. Yes
12. Q. Can we enter four Solo Musical Theatre at the district level and two acting?
A. NO, only 3 Solo Musical TheatreÕs may be entered for district. However, you could enter 1 Solo Musical Theatre and 5 Acting.
13. Q. May the selection be from a movie?
A. No, the selection must be written for theatre, a song cannot come from just a movie.
14. Q. Must the introduction come
first?
A.
Yes, the introduction MUST come first with only musical title, author, and song
title.
15. Q. Is it okay to control or cue the music using a remote control?
A. Yes.
16. Q. May students wear specialty shoes?
A. No, you cannot costume for Solo Musical Theatre
17. Q. May a student use two or more songs for their presentation?
A. NO, only ONE song may be performed.
18. Q. May a medley of the musical be done in one song?
A. NO, only one song from the musical may be performed.
19. Q. May a student enter acting and solo musical theatre in the same contest?
A. Yes, they are two different events.